PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Rays entered Spring Training with essentially only one job up for grabs on the position-player side, with former top prospect Curtis Mead and former White Sox slugger Eloy Jiménez competing for one spot.
They made their decision official on Friday, informing Jim¨¦nez he would not make the Opening Day roster and confirming that Mead will break camp with the club for the second straight year.
¡°You¡¯ve got to really appreciate what Curtis Mead has done,¡± manager Kevin Cash said. ¡°It made some difficult decisions.¡±
The way they¡¯ve operated in the past, the Rays would allow Jim¨¦nez -- who signed a Minor League deal in December -- to pursue a Major League opportunity elsewhere if one presented itself. But Cash said Jim¨¦nez intends to join Triple-A Durham to start the season.
Jim¨¦nez fit in perfectly inside the Rays¡¯ clubhouse this spring, becoming fast friends with plenty of players. He also took well to whatever the club asked of him, working some in the outfield and even taking some reps at first base early in camp. After a slow start at the plate, he has shown signs of the potent bat he swung when healthy in Chicago at the beginning of his career.
¡°Couldn¡¯t be more pleased with the way Eloy carried himself, and the bat started to come to life here a little bit later, which we were confident that it would,¡± Cash said. ¡°For Eloy to go down there, continue the progress and the work that he put in this offseason for our Durham club, he could be huge for us at any point during the season.¡±
This will be Mead¡¯s second time on Tampa Bay¡¯s Opening Day roster, as he served as a utility infielder to begin last season. But the circumstances are quite different. Coming into camp looking more muscular and more like himself at the plate, Mead essentially gave the Rays no choice but to carry him with his performance this spring.
The Australian infielder¡¯s offseason work earned him immediate praise from Cash and hitting coach Chad Mottola upon his arrival to Spring Training, and he backed that up with his play on the field. Mead has gone 19-for-35 (.543) with a homer, a double and more walks (six) than strikeouts (four) in Grapefruit League play.
¡°It's special,¡± Mead said. ¡°I felt like I played pretty good and didn't really give them a whole lot of choice, which made it a little bit easier for both of us, I think. It was pretty cool. ¡ I¡¯m pumped. I¡¯m excited for the season. I feel good about the at-bats I¡¯ve had and the work I¡¯ve done, so I¡¯m excited to see how it¡¯s going to translate.¡±
After putting up excellent numbers in the Minors, Mead struggled in the Majors last season, batting .238/.282/.287 in 38 games. Some of that could have been a product of the work he did the previous winter, when he lost weight and focused on his agility to become a more versatile defender but lost some of his pop as an unintended consequence.
Mead can still provide some flexibility in the infield. He could back up Junior Caminero at third base or Brandon Lowe at second. But he¡¯s likely to spend most of his time at first, platooning with the left-handed-hitting Jonathan Aranda while Yandy D¨ªaz gets more regular work as the designated hitter.
¡°I've been working hard the last two, three weeks,¡± Mead said. ¡°I don't like to play a defensive position and not feel good about it, so I've been working hard to feel good.¡±
More roster news
The Rays optioned relievers Hunter Bigge and Eric Orze to Triple-A Durham on Friday, removing two relievers from the competition for the final spot in their bullpen.
Both pitched well in camp and should be in the mix at some point this season. The hard-throwing Bigge allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out six over seven innings. Orze, acquired from the Mets for Jose Siri in November, was one of the standout surprises of the spring, giving up just one run on two hits and two walks while striking out 10 over 6 1/3 innings.
¡°He certainly stood out, not knowing him that well, the way he came in, his approach with his heavy [splitter] usage,¡± Cash said. ¡°He had a really solid spring. Tough to envision scenarios where he¡¯s not helping us throughout the course of the season.¡±
Cash said the Rays are ¡°still working through¡± their final decisions regarding the composition of their Opening Day bullpen.
The Rays made a minor move on Friday, trading non-roster right-hander Nathan Wiles to the Braves for cash considerations.
Palacios banged up
Utility man Richie Palacios didn¡¯t play in the Rays¡¯ 7-3 loss to the Braves on Friday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park due to a small fracture at the tip of a finger on his right hand that he sustained about a week ago.
Cash said Palacios will miss a couple days, but he doesn¡¯t seem to be in jeopardy of being sidelined to start the season.
¡°It¡¯s at that point where it¡¯s more an annoyance than anything, so we¡¯ll just continue to take it day to day,¡± Cash said.